by Dakota Krout
“I also apologize for sending him off my land, I hope it will not inconvenience you too much. I was... unaware of the ability the contract gave landowners.” Dale glanced at Frank as he said this.
Amber grimaced and shook her head, “Please don’t worry about it. If he is escorted back to you to ensure his good behavior, may I have your permission to allow him back on your land; with an apology and some form of recompense from him, of course?”
“That would be very acceptable, High Magous.” Dale grudgingly allowed as formally as he could manage. Something about her screamed that formality was an absolute necessity.
She seemed to disagree with his assessment, “Please, just call me Amber. How far does your land extend? We will need to get him from the edge, where I assume he is currently pacing and ranting. He will apologize sincerely within the hour.” She promised while rubbing her head, obviously she had a headache coming on.
Dale coughed and blushed a bit. “It may take a bit longer to bring him back, I own the whole mountain.”
Shock whipped across her face. “Ah, this also explains much.” She waved one of her people down and sent him to go collect James, with instructions to escort him directly to the main Guild tent. “Now, Dale, if we could discuss the price of a portal set-up? I hope James didn’t cost us the chance to get a contract...”
“Well, the last discussed price was sixteen percent of the profit and free usage for myself, my friends, and all goods I care to take with me.” Dale started, all business as he upped the cost again.
Amber made a small choking sound. “More of James’ anger is explained… I don’t suppose you’d be willing instead to make a... standard lease for the land?” She smiled weakly, knowing he wouldn’t go for it.
“I’m sorry, my financial advisors have all demanded that any business in the area must pay percentage profit. As I will be needing to pay taxes to both the Lion and Phoenix Kingdoms, I hope you can see my dilemma.” Dale told her very seriously.
Amber smiled, getting ready for one of her favorite pastimes: haggling. “This could take a while. Do you have any refreshments, by chance? It has been at least three days and a few hundred miles since I was able to eat a cooked meal.”
They happily returned to their lunch, filling a plate for the portal Mage. After much haggling and awkward silences, they agreed upon eight percent of the gross profit, free use for him, his goods, and close friends. Happy with the results of the day, Dale then left to train with his group, earning several bruises and putting him in a bad mood from their scolding and his poor performance. He bathed and went to dinner, discussing better tactics and form with Hans, who had proven to be a good friend. As per Frank’s orders, Dale returned to the Guild tent after dinner, where he found Amber and Frank talking to a fuming James.
“Of course he makes us wait! Probably stuffing his face with free Guild food while he laughs at making more important people wait on his whims!” James was saying maliciously.
“You really aren’t very smart are you? I really thought better of you, James!” Amber rounded on him, voice cold. “This training ground is a potential gold mine, already the Kings of the surrounding Realms plan their visits, princes and princesses will come here to cultivate, so they can meet on neutral ground, while remaining well protected. The Elves are a few weeks behind us, for God’s sake, planning to build a city on this spot, and you insult the one person who can just tell us to leave?!” She was shouting at him by the end of her spiel.
“He needs us more than we need him! The people here would riot at the thought of losing their chance at portals!” James weakly rebutted, wilting under the powerful gaze of his supervisor.
“Why wouldn’t they just wait until the Elves got here? Their portals are just as good as ours, they care little for our gold!” Amber exclaimed. “We would lose a massive investment, because you cannot stop being a prick!”
“You don’t need to worry about that too much; I already accepted your offer, Magous Amber, I try to be a man of my word.” Dale let the others know he could hear them, striding into the room. He glared at James, “I think that you are not welcome here, Mage James. You have been here a day and already overstayed your welcome. I don’t know what it is about me that offended you so, but I will not tolerate insults like you are spewing. Not only is it rude for no reason, it is bad for morale. Due to my daily access to the dungeon, I am actually a higher cultivation rank than the average adventurer around here; how would these insults be taken by them - your paying customers?”
James’s face flushed red, indignation within him.
Dale cut James off before he could begin a tirade, “When the portal is set up, please leave. You are free to go before then, which is my preference, but I know that may really inconvenience High Magous Amber.” She nodded reluctantly as he mentioned this, “Also, if you plan to actually attack me, or convince others to harm me, I need to ask you to leave, please.”
James, face suddenly pale, had his body whipped around, then started walking away, not in control of his limbs. He visibly calmed himself, taking a deep breath, stopped and turned back to the group watching him. “My actions do not befit my rank. I apologize that I have acted so poorly. Please, allow me to make amends before sending me away.”
Dale nodded, amazed at the change in demeanor James was exhibiting, “That is fine, but my decision stands. I don’t want to make an enemy of you James, but I cannot allow insults like these. On that note, feel free to talk to me if you can find reasons I should change my mind.” James nodded sharply, ashamed, walking out of the tent under his own power for once.
“Well.” Frank grumbled, “That was a shit show.”
“Yup.” Dale, head throbbing, took his leave and moved to find his bed.
The next days followed a simple pattern: Early rise, get to know people, train, cultivate. The ground rumbled for several hours each of these days, not making anyone nervous as there was no shaking, only noise. When people were starting to become truly angry that the dungeon was blocked, and Frank had to punish a few people for fighting, the morning came that the door to the dungeon was finally open. Exceedingly cheerful, Dale’s team alerted the Guild. They got into formation and went to the dungeon entrance, ready to make some money.
The difference in the room was apparent immediately. Raw iron coated practically every inch of the wall, the air was as thick with Essence here, in the entrance, as it had been only in the Boss room previously. With only a few violent mushrooms to make them cautious, they decided to take their time today absorbing the Essence in each room, which would slow them down but make them stronger. Dale’s cultivation speed was so much higher at his new rank that they were able to move forward in a short half hour.
~Cal~
I noted to Dani.
“Nah, that is totally normal. It’s a byproduct of increasing your rank, then not having anyone pulling the Essence into themselves. It was bound to accumulate, Cal. The huge level of Essence in the air will vanish in a few hours, I’m betting. Especially at the rate this group is cultivating. Don’t worry about them, other people will be in a hurry to make money or get an item or two, so you’ll be able to recapture some good Essence.” Dani promised.
She was right, as per usual. As my high-powered morning group cleared the second room and sat in the lotus position to cultivate, another group entered and hurried to get ahead of them, likely thinking that the best rewards went to the fastest group. They yelled some derisive comments at the first group as they passed, laughing at their good fortune whilst taking the left branch of the tunnel. They entered a room that had a false back, after clearing it they shouted in anger that they had been tricked. Heh. That was even funnier than I had thought it would be. They stomped back, glaring at the still-cultivating group like it was their fault, taking the branch to the right.
“Are they all F-ranked?” Dani wondered, peering at the hustling group through our connection.
This group cleared the room, joyfully filling bags with the loot they found. Moving on, I was impressed at their ability to take the wrong direction every single time. By the time they limped into the first floor Boss room, they looked tired and sour. Taking out a week's worth of their anger on my poor Bloody Bane, they sat to rest for a bit. I had dropped a Holy pendant for them because I was impressed at their tenacity, if not their attitude. I think that I was jaded, being used to professionals at this point.
They got up and were discussing where they should spend their money, so I decided that they needed a boost in the right direction. I dropped a few coppers on top of the stairs, making a loud clattering of falling coins. Of course, they came to investigate and found the tunnel hidden around the bend. Seeing the stairway leading deeper, they became so excited that I almost felt bad for them, but really, does death only come for those who are wicked? Does it spare good people just because they are good or excited? I think not!
Moving downward, they were on high guard, ready to be the first to explore these new, unknown depths. I directed a squad their way, getting ready to test out my new creations in battle. Seeing my Bashers racing at them from the gloom, two of the humans crouched with shields to block their charge. I had the other Bashers move back as the Smashers raced forward, diving directly into the shields. The poor quality metal bent at the impact from my lovely bunnies, breaking the arms of the men foolish enough to attempt to block them; simultaneously knocking the men to their knees.
The fallen humans screamed in pain for a moment, at least till the Oppressors landed their attack on the heads placed perfectly for assault. The cleave ability came into play, a gust of forceful wind blasted into the humans’ screaming mouths, shattering teeth and dislocating jaws moments before their skulls lost the ‘whose cranium is harder’ challenge.
With two of their five members dead in the first attack, the others tried to run. They did not get far before a Impalers horn pierced the spine of a fleeing archer, the Smashers caught up to the remaining two, breaking their legs and giving the other Bashers a chance to finish them off. Just like that, I gained enough Essence that I broke directly into D-rank one.
I whooped in joy,
“Surprise is a glorious tool, Cal.” Dani was nearly as excited as I was for my new rank. Remembering that there were others in the dungeon, I quickly worked to dissolve the corpses and acquire their items. It wouldn’t do to have someone becoming alert to their impending doom, after all. I started fantasizing that just maybe I would finally get this group that showed up daily? I broke out of my reverie with a start, remembering that the Mobs who helped kill a person would gain a portion of their Essence! I moved the squad that had won their first battle into a hiding place to await lower level groups. As an experiment, I would try to get them to evolve naturally. I needed to keep them separate, so as to ensure I would remember them, I’d call them alpha squad and give them a pleasure warren for when they weren't in combat.
The first group of humans came to the first floor Boss room just as the ‘seed’ bloomed into a new Monster, so they had to fight him. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy... or upset. Having them fight the Boss gave me time to absorb the bodies below, wringing out every last drop of Essence; but now I would need to resurrect the Boss again. I vowed that the next time I was going to upgrade my dungeon, I would begin by replacing this useless Boss! Disgusted with my weak Mobs, I dropped the holy symbol I had retaken from the wiped group below, impatiently waiting for them to finish cultivating.
I heard what I had been waiting for, “Look at that!”
“What is it Dale?” His name is Dale, huh? I’ll call them ‘Dale’s group’ from now on.
Dale was as excited as I had hoped he would be, “Stairs leading down!”
“That must be why we didn’t pass that group yet, I was getting worried for them.” The blond man seemed relieved. Heh.
“Stay worried. A second level means stronger Mobs, and that group was weak to begin with.” A harsh voice croaked at them from the cloth wrapped man.
Dale’s group went downward, though at the landing paused, looking into the gloom.
“Dale, are you cycling your Essence for enhanced vision?”
“Eh… I am now.” Dale sheepishly replied.
“What do you see?”
“Looks like, um, moving Essence, I think earth, air, and… what is that blackish-red?”
“Infernal.” A grim voice rang out, slowly drawing a sword...
Dale gave a very unappreciative, “Oh, that’s bad I take it.”
“What else?” The cloth wrapped man prodded.
“The… earth ahead looks... wrong? Thin, like the top layer of a puddle in winter.” Dale notified them.
The man asking questions nodded, though Dale wasn’t looking his way. “Good, those are most likely traps. As an earth-affinity cultivator, one of your most important responsibilities will lie in seeing or feeling traps like that. Others might see them, but I want you to call out every trap you see. Any you fail to catch in time will mean an hour of training with Josh at full speed.”
The panic in Dale’s eyes made me chuckle, I guess ‘Josh’ wasn’t gentle. Hopefully poor little Dale wouldn’t have to worry for much longer... about anything.
“Those moving Essence blobs are coming at us now!” Dale called out.
“Likely Mobs. Get ready boys!” The blond man holding daggers whooped.
A fresh squad raced at them, moving quickly under my direction for a kill. The huge man in Dale’s group moved forward with a tower shield, so I had both of the Smashers ram it. Higher quality than the previous group, the man's shield held under the heavy attack, but the man himself grunted and moved back a few steps.
“Those suckers are heavy. Dodge ‘em if possible.” He told the others in a strained conversational tone.
I sent an Oppressor to jump to the side of him, pushing off the wall to gain sideways momentum. Thinking he could easily block this smaller Basher, the large man didn’t focus as he should have, therefore he was knocked off balance as the cleaving wind sliced into both of his legs, opening up shallow cuts where the armor was jointed, even though the Basher itself was stopped short.
The other men rushed in, the cloth-wearing one moving exceedingly fast across the ground. I could feel a bit of Essence interacting with the earth as he moved; this must be a movement skill. He seemed to vanish from his spot and appear behind the Oppressor that had knocked the large man to the side. He punched with perfect form, creating a resounding *crack*.
The perfectly aimed blow snapped my poor bunnies’ neck, it flopped to the floor, dead. While this impossibly fast man was distracted - I hoped - I sent my Impaler at his back to try for an incapacitating blow. Mid jump, an arrow landed in its eye! That was odd, I hadn’t seen this group having an archer before. I risked quickly looking at their weapons, noticing that the person I had thought was using a staff this whole time was actually carrying a big-ass longbow. The draw weight on that must be massive for it to look like a metal-clad staff most of the time!
The remaining Oppressor and two Smashers bounded toward the group of three people standing together, the two heavies flanking the lighter Oppressor. The blond haired man raced right at them, a dagger in each hand. As the Bashers leapt at him, he ignored defense, leaping higher than my bashers; accurately stabbing downward between the armored plates of the leftmost Smasher, severing his spinal column.
When the remaining Bashers landed from their missed attack, a heavy spiked ball crushed the skull of my unarmored Oppressor. Dale had moved forward without my noticing, the little brat! I may have been too focused on the jumping man while Dale landed his attack. The man with the...Bow? Staff? Stepped forward and slammed the m
etal-shod end onto the last Smasher, dazing it long enough for the dagger wielder to finish it off. Just like that, the battle was over. For now.
“A good test of their abilities, I can already think of a few improvements we should try for the next batch.” Dani quickly reminded me, “Give them some good loot!”
“Well I think that was worth it!” Dale gasped, excited at seeing silver glinting in the treasure.
“Hmm. We have not even gotten to a room on this floor, already the Mobs were stronger than the Boss on the previous level. Should we continue, or go warn the Guild?” The wise, unarmored person polled the group.
“Hard to warn against that which we don’t know.” The dagger user was placing the bodies of my Bashers into a bag he had, which I felt was far too small to hold them all. I wanted a closer look, but his aura forced me to remain frustrated.
“I suppose that’s true. We continue.”
“Yay, you!” She cheered.
Dale’s group moved further in, Dale calling out the traps placed throughout the tunnel. He missed one, I was really looking forward to them boiling in acid when the cloth covered human ruined my fun by stopping the group, pointing at the ceiling, and telling Dale he had an appointment with Josh when they were done. The big one, who I now assumed was Josh, was gleefully rubbing his hands together and dancing around just outside of the range of my trap.
Twice, I tried to ambush them with squads while they were distracted with the low powered original Bashers. Sadly, each time they were defeated, though I was able to form a dent in Josh’s gigantic tower shield. He grumbled like a thunderstorm when it happened, whining till the one they called Craig reminded him the dent could instead have been in his legs. As much as I wanted to eat them and their equipment, I was still very impressed by their teamwork, perception, and coordinated efforts.
